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About Charles Shaw

Charles Shaw is a writer and activist living in the Bay Area of San Francisco. He is the author of Exile Nation: Drugs, Prisons, Politics and Spirituality, and the Director of The Exile Nation Project. Charles serves as editor for the Dictionary of Ethical Politics and the oD Drug Policy Forum.

Articles by Charles Shaw

oD Drug Policy Forum: Front Line Report - Week of December 20th, 2010

Mark Weiss and Charles Shaw 23 December 2010
We lead this weeks report with news of a petition to stop the abusive treatment of prisoners in Georgia and support the demands of the Georgia Prisoners Strike.

oD Drug Policy Forum: Front Line Report - Week of December 13th 2010

Charles Shaw and Mark Weiss 16 December 2010
This week we lead with news of an horrific abuse of power by undercover narcotics agents which saw the unlawful killing of an innocent 92 year old woman and attempt to cover up the crime. The Report also discusses US prison reform, the new UK Government Drug Strategy with analysis from some of the key stakeholders, and includes a groundbreaking new UKDPC report about the stigmatisation of drug users ~ CS & MW

oD Drug Policy Forum: Front Line Report - Week of December 6th 2010

Mark Weiss and Charles Shaw 6 December 2010
This week, we lead with news of the MAPS Conference, taking place this weekend in Los Angeles and featuring openDemocracy's very own Charles Shaw among a long list of celebrated speakers and artists. This is followed by an inspired article by friend of the Drug Policy Forum, John Sinclair, who discusses the 'correctional economy' and Charles' book, 'Exile Nation'. ~ MW

Exile Nation in London

Charles Shaw 2 December 2010
Video (in three parts) of Charles Shaw's presentation as part of openDemocracy's "Who's Addicted to the War on Drugs?" which took place on Tuesday, November 16th, 2010 in London.

oD Drug Policy Forum: Front Line Report - Week of November 29th 2010

Mark Weiss and Charles Shaw 29 November 2010
Welcome to the latest Front Line Report - our largest yet - bringing you a collection of stories from across the globe, from national and international news and media outlets and UN agencies. This week we continue our documentary updates from the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union's Drug Reporter site, with a moving film about drug detention centres in Asia - 'Abuse in the name of Treatment'. We also bring you an Al Jazeera report on Whoonga, a 'tragic step backwards' in the fight against HIV ~ MW & CS

oD Drug Policy Forum: Front Line Report - Week of November 22nd 2010

Mark Weiss and Charles Shaw 23 November 2010
This weeks front line report covers a broad ground, from news of the Subtance Misuse Consortium in the UK working to drive treatment standards up; the relationship between hepitatitis C, substance misuse and health equality; a 20 fold increase in the number of users criminalized in Ukraine; and the start of our regular showcasing of films from the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union. We lead though with a news of a considered documentary film, 'Marijauna - A Chronic History?'

oD Drug Policy Forum: Front Line Report - Week of November 15th 2010

Charles Shaw and Mark Weiss 15 November 2010
We lead this week with our very own Charles Shaw, and an eloquent piece written for today's Guardian Society about the "madness" that is the war on drugs, and what US policymakers can learn from their European partners.

oD Drug Policy Forum: Front Line Report - Week of November 8th 2010

Charles Shaw and Mark Weiss 10 November 2010
As Charles Shaw's Unheard Voices Project comes to the UK, I am pleased to lead this weeks Front Line Report with news of a what promises to be a truly exciting evening of discussion - 'Who's Addicted to the War on Drugs', a free openDemocracy event, this Tuesday 16th November in King's Cross, London. As well as taking part in an informative discussion of the lessons we can learn from US drug policy, Charles will show material from his current project.

oD Drug Policy Forum: Front Line Report - Week of November 1st 2010

Charles Shaw and Mark Weiss 3 November 2010
Charles Shaw is still on the road working on his Unheard Voices Project, so I lead this weeks report with news from the Mid-Term Elections in the United States; and optimism in the wake of the defeat of Proposition 19 in California. Now is a time to consider the great momentum of the campaign, and debate which has been heard on a broader ground than ever before. As Steve Gutwillig says - "Tonight was an enormous step in placing this movement in the mainstream of American Politics."

oD Drug Policy Forum: Front Line Report - Week of October 25th 2010

Mark Weiss and Charles Shaw 25 October 2010
Charles Shaw is on the road this week, working on the Unheard Voices Project, so I have the honor of leading the Front Line Report. This week we lead with a roundup of news from Mexico, and of the latest battleground in the multilateral war between drug-trafficking gangs and the authorities.

oD Drug Policy Forum: Front Line Report - Week of October 18th 2010

Charles Shaw and Mark Weiss 20 October 2010
We lead this week with explosive, albeit expected, news from Washington DC. Attorney General Eric Holder announced that the Federal government will disregard the will of the people and continue to enforce marijuana prohibition, even if Prop 19 passes.

oD Drug Policy Forum: Front Line Report - Week of October 10th, 2010

Charles Shaw and Mark Weiss 11 October 2010
Charles Shaw is currently on a 6-week speaking tour, so I have the honor of leading this week's report - and with only 22 days left until Californians go to the polls to determine the fate of Proposition 19, I lead with encouraging news from the latest Public Policy Institue of California poll.

oD Drug Policy Forum: Front Line Report - Week of October 3rd, 2010

Mark Weiss and Charles Shaw 3 October 2010
We lead this week's report with the extraordinary news of the decriminalization of marijuana in California.

Born Illegal - The US Federal Analogue Act

Charles Shaw 30 September 2010
This is the story of Anthony Reed, a promising young man with a very bright future who was arrested and charged with a felony under the infamous "Analogue Act" for possessing one dose of 2C-I, what he thought was a "legal" substance. Includes an interview with Alexander "Sasha" Shulgin, the inventor of 2C-I.

oD Drug Policy Forum: Front Line Report - Week of September 27th, 2010

Mark Weiss and Charles Shaw 28 September 2010
We lead this week with the release of the much anticipated trailer from Charles Shaw and openDemocracy's The Exile Nation Project, a testimonial documentary about the far-ranging consequences of the American criminal justice system.

This week's editor

Heather McRobie


Niki Seth-Smith is a freelance journalist and co-editor of OurKingdom.

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